The Breathtaking Watches of Baselworld

Baselworld, the annual trade show held in the Swiss watch-making mecca, brings out the biggest names showing off their best new timepieces. This year's show brought new styles and updates on the classics. Here our friends at GQ.com share a look at 2012's best and biggest trends.

Aviator Nation

These watches, taking inspiration from vintage pilots' timepieces, are a cool evolution on the military styles that have taken over in recent years. Taking the ruggedness of the pilot style, with its signature heft and complex dials, but producing it in sleek style grounded in a black color scheme, elevates the standard piece.

Blue State

Last season's big color statement is still in play with new takes on the tint once again presented this year. New propositions have the color shifting from the background of your favorite timepieces to the front, being used as an accent on dials and hands as well as bezels.

Flying High

Another crop of pilot-inspired watches turned up, but what separates these timepieces from their dark counterparts is the contrast-stitched bands rendered in vegetable-tanned leather that will wear in like your favorite baseball mitt.

Gentlemen's Club

These timepieces dial down the bells and whistles, but amp up the style with clean lines and luxe finishes. The absence of numbers, replaced with slick markers, help create a refinement that would be as appropriate at your black-tie wedding as sitting courtside at a game.

Gray Matters

This is one time where monotony is a good thing. The biggest trend at Basel was gray, in every shade and fabrication, brought together in a single timepiece. It's a cool, contemporary update available at any price point.

The Midas Touch

The marriage of gold bezels and batons with rich brown watch faces is what makes these an exciting spin on the classic gold timepiece. It's a subtle change from traditional hues, but one that brings these gilded watches into modern territory.

Red State

A little color goes a long way on a watch face and the subtle red works on these because it distracts from the rest of the timepiece. Set against black and white combo watch faces, these accents lend a sporty vibe to the everyday watch.